Kempton Park cop shoots dead civilian

Kempton Park cop shoots dead civilian

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A policeman allegedly shot dead 45-year-old Jeanette Odendaal at Kempton Park police station after she crashed into a police vehicle, the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) said on Wednesday.

"On 26 April 2011, the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) arrested a police sergeant based in Kempton Park SAPS in connection with the shooting of 45-year-old Ms Jeanette Odendaal in Kempton Park," said ICD spokesman Moses Dlamini in a statement.

He said a car guard witnessed the incident outside the police station on Tuesday evening around 8.30pm. "It is alleged that a car guard saw a white Golf collide with a stationary police vehicle, which was parked outside the police station.

"The car guard then ran into the police station to report the accident. It is alleged that a sergeant came out of the police station and shot 45-year-old Jeanette Odendaal in the upper body," said Dlamini.

Apparently the policeman thought the noise of the crash was a gun shot. She was still inside the car when she was shot.

"By the time paramedics arrived at the scene, Ms Odendaal was already dead. It is not clear at this stage what the deceased was doing at the police station," said Dlamini.

A post mortem would be conducted on Thursday. The sergeant will appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court on Friday.

Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said in a statement earlier: "It is still unknown what prompted the shooting."

On Tuesday, eight policemen appeared in court in the Free State after allegedly killing unarmed civilian Andries Tatane, who was beaten and shot during a protest in Ficksburg on April 13.

National police commissioner General Bheki Cele said the country's 8500 crowd control police officers would get a refresher course in handling protests.

A video of Tatane's death was broadcast on national television. Dlamini said two similar police brutality cases had been before two KwaZulu-Natal courts on Tuesday.

One was in Greytown, where five policemen allegedly strangled a person in custody while the other case, in Hammersdale, involved 15 policemen who alleged beat a suspect who later died. DA spokeswoman Dianne Kohler Barnard said the party was dismayed by the Kempton incident.

"This seems, by all accounts, to be another terrible tragedy that coincides with our nation's Freedom Day [and] is a horrible reminder of how far we still have to go to create a safe, caring and truly free society," she said in a statement.

"Any police service should work in the best interests of the people it serves to protect, not against them...

"The SAPS and its leadership have much to do if they are to turn the situation around and restore public faith in their purpose and conduct," she said. Cele's office declined to comment on Wednesday on the Kempton Park incident. -Sapa


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Missing woman found dead
2011-04-27 22:44

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Johannesburg - A missing Rust de Vaal woman was found dead near her home on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

"Her body was found by a passerby in a ditch... at 14:00," said police spokesperson Shado Mashobane. She appeared to have been shot in the head.

Earlier, police said Florenda Jacobs, 33, was reported missing by her parents early on Wednesday morning

They became worried and alerted the police when she failed to return home after going to withdraw money from an ATM at 13:00 on Tuesday.

The Toyota Tazz she was driving was found burnt out in Orange Farm at 01:00 on Wednesday.


- SAPA

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